Is visuomotor training an effective intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders?
Visuomotor training cuts repetitive behaviors and builds lasting gross motor skills in 6- to 12-year-olds with ASD.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team ran a randomized trial with 6- to 12-year-old children with autism.
Half the kids got visuomotor training. The other half did not.
Repetitive behaviors and motor skills were checked before, after, and weeks later.
What they found
Repetitive behaviors dropped by a medium amount and stayed down at follow-up.
Gross motor skills also improved and the gains held.
Social behavior got a small bump, but only right after training.
How this fits with other research
Myers et al. (2015) saw the same motor boost in 4-year-olds, but no social change.
Haghighi et al. (2023) later added ball games and resistance work. They got both fitness and social-communication gains, showing you can widen the payoff.
Brooks et al. (2016) moved the idea to young adults. Their driving-simulator visuomotor drills taught steering fast, proving the method travels across ages and goals.
Why it matters
You now have an RCT showing visuomotor work cuts stereotypy and builds lasting motor skills in elementary kids with ASD.
Add short visuomotor drills to your session plan if repetitive behaviors block learning.
Track the behaviors for weeks; the study says the drop should stick.
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Open your session with five minutes of bean-bag toss or target tapping and tally stereotypy before and after.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
<h4>Purpose</h4>Investigation of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is somewhat dependent on addressing main core features of ASD. But it is not clear which kind of investigation can effect on more difficulties features. So, this study examines the effect of the visuomotor, motor, and computer-based training programs on social behavior, motor skills, and repetitive behaviors of children with ASD.<h4>Patients and methods</h4>Sixty children with ASD aged 6-12 years were recruited and assigned to one of the three experimental groups and the control group (each group n=15). Training was provided in 30 sessions, scheduled 3 times a week. Social behavior and repetitive behaviors were determined objectively using the observation method, and motor skills were evaluated by the Test of Gross Motor Development-2.<h4>Results</h4>Our results suggested that children in the visuomotor group showed a significant reduction in the repetitive behaviors and an increase in gross motor skill scores in the post-test and follow-up. Also, the results exhibited that motor training group significantly improved in social behavior either in the post-test or follow-up. Although the post-test illustrated a considerable improvement of gross motor skills, this difference was not significant in follow-up. Similarly, no significant change was observed in visual training and control groups in relation to study variables.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Given the improvement of repetitive behaviors and gross motor skills in post-test and follow-up, it seems that this investigation had a positive effect with a good retention effect on two core features of children with ASD. But according to group-based training protocol in motor training group and improvement in social communication, and mutual effect on gross motor skills, it seems that group-based practice can also be used to achieve the benefits of social communication in the investigations.
, 2019 · doi:10.2147/ndt.s214991